Reversing mechanism for hoists



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Patented Nov. 2, 1926.

UNITED STATES PATE-Nr ortica.

HENRY W. NAGEL, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIS, ASSIGNOR TO THOMAS H. FERGUSON, OF

, OAK PARK, ILLINOIS.

REVERSING MEGHANISM FOR HOISTS.

Application filed July 21,

The present invention relates to reversing mechanisms for hoists of the type in which a hoisting` drum is advanced and returned through a given rotational distance in response to automatic control. Such hoists are commonly employed to raise and lower buckets in conveying systems for handling coal and the like. l

One object of the invention is to provide a novel. association of parts for bringing` about the reversals in the rotation of the drum. To this end I employ a main gear train for driving the drum in one direction, a reversing gear train for driving the gear in the opposite direction, clutches for alternately throwingthese gear trains into service, and an oscillating constantly running reversing gear. The latter' per se constitutes the subject matter of my application Serial' No. 474,667, filed June 3, 1921.

Another object of the invention is to provide means for preventing the return ofthe drum when moving in the hoisting direction. This is to prevent dropping the load by reason of the failure of some part of the mechanism to function properly. In its preferred embodiment this means is in the form lof ,ratchet mechanism under the control of said reversing gear. As the load is being hoisted, a pawl engages the teeth of a ratchet wheel and as the drum is being returned the pawl is held free of the wheel.

` I alsogpresent' herewith the disclosure of novel braking means and a new adjustment of brake members but `the same are not claimed herein but are reserved for a divisional application. Their disclosure, however. seems desirable in order to enable the present invention to-be completely understood.

Other objects of my invention are to produce a hoist mechanism of economical and effective construction, and one which may be readily inspected and repaired.

The several features of the invention will be best understood uponreference to the following detailed description taken" in connection with the accompanying drawings, and the scope of the invention will be particular-ly pointed out in the appended claims.

l In said drawings, Figl is' a plan view of a hoist having-reversing; mechanism ccnlaai. serial 110,486,483.

structed inaccordance with the present invention. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same, parts being broken away for clearance and compactness of the figure. Fig. 3 is a horizontal section taken on a plane indicated by the line 3 3 of Fig. 2. Fig. 4 is a substantially vertical section taken on a plane indicated by the line t of Fig. 2, parts being broken away'for clearance.` 'F ig. 5 is a detail view of a portion of the means for controlling the ratchet mechanism by which the drum is prevented from reversing when operating in a hoisting direction. Fig. 6 is a perspective view of the inner ring of Yone of the emergency brake members. Fig. 7 is a similar view of the outer ring ofthe same brake member, and Fig. 8 is a similar view of the reciprocating frame of the reversing gear. Throughoutthese viewslike characters refer to like parts.

Referring to said drawings in detail, 10 designates the frames upon which the various parts of the hoist are mounted. There are two such frames which are spaced apart and,v as clearly illustrated, are irregularly shaped so as to provide bearings for ythe different shafts. Each frame 10 is provided with a triangular portion having inclined anges 11 and 12 and vertical flanges 13, together with intervening webs 14 and 15. This portion of each frame 10 Vforms a pedestal for a bearing 16 for the drum shaft 17. In the present instance, the bearing 16 comprises a lower box or pedestal in which the journal of the shaft rests, and an upper boX or pedestal cover which is vsuitably .secured to the .lower boX or pedestal by bolts 18. Obviously, any desired bearing construction may be kemployed 'for this shaft.

The drum 19 is mounted upon the shaft 17 Y at a point intermediate of its length. This drum preferably comprises an annular shell 2O and ends 21 and 22 which are provided with sleeves 23 and 211, which are, in turn, secured to the shaft -17 by a key 25. vAt this point it may also be noted that the end 22 is provided with a conical brake member 26, which constitutes one-of the members of the emergency brake previously referred to. As clearly illustrate-d,v the ends 21 and 22 extend beyond the shell 2O seas to provide a space for the cable' which is to los wound upon the drum. Obviously, the shell 2O may be spirally grooved so as to provide for the. regular and orderly winding of the cable upon it. This, however, is a detail which may be left to the designer, and T have, therefore, not taken occasion to illustrate it. The shell and ends 2l and 22 may be secured together' in any desiredway, as by welding.

The drum shaft 17 also has lreyed to it a gear wheel 27 which is adapted to be driven by a meshing pinion 28 mounted upon an intermediate shaft 29 which, in turn, is provided with a gear wheel 30. The shaft 29 is journaled in bearings 3l upon horizontal portions of the frames l0. Adjacent to these bearings, each frame is provided with horizontal flanges 32, vertical flanges 33, and an intervening web 34. The gear wheel 30, in turn, meshes with a pinion loosely mounted on the driving shaft 36. The same gear wheel also meshes with a pinion 37 keyed to the reversing shaft 38. These shafts 3G and 38 are suitably journaled in bearings upon the frames l0, as clearly illustrated. The reversing shaft 38 also has leyed to it a gear wheel 39 which, in turn, meshes with a` pinion 40, loosely mounted upon the driving shaft 36.' Thus, we see that there is a main gear train which extends from the driving shaft 36 to the drum shaft 1T, and includes the gear wheels 35, 39, 2S and 27. Similarly, there is a reversing gear train. which .includes gear wheels 40, and Si'. Then the former is in operation the drum is rotated in the direction indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, which is the hoisting cirection. ./lh-en the latter is in service the drum is rotated in the opposite direction.

In order to bring these gear trains into service, it is necessary to provide means for connecting pinions and 40 to the shaft SG. For this purpose I provid-e the pinion 35 with clutch teeth 4l. and the pinion 40 with clutch teeth 42. The teeth 41 co-operate with similar teeth 43 upon a sleeve 44 secured for longitudinal movement upon the shaft 36 by a spline or :feather 45. The opposite end of the sleeve 44 is provided with clutch teeth 46 which are adapted to cooperate with the clutch teeth 42. 1W ith this construction it will be seen that when the sleeve is in the position illustrated in Fig. 4, the pinion 35 is mechanically secured. to the driving shaft 85 and the drum is being rotated in its hoisting direction. On the other hand, when the sleeve 44 is moved to its left hand position, as viewed in Figure 4, the pinion 35 will no longer be connected to the driving shaft 3G, but pinion 40 will be so connected and the drum will be rotated in the opposite direction.

For the purpose of bringing about these reciprocations of the sleeve 44, l provide the reversing gear 47 which, as previously noted, in itself, constitutes the subject matter of my application Serial No. 474,667, filed J une 3, 1921. This reversing gear includes a frame 48 which is adapted to be constantly reciprocated while Jthe driving` shaft is in operation. This frame is shown in detail in Fig. 8, and comprises lateral arms 49. 50, 5l and 52, each of which is apertured at its outer end. The auxiliary or worm shaft 53 passes through the apertures in the arms 49 and 50, and the intermediate shaft 29 passes through the apertures in the arms 5l and 52. The frame is thus free to slide along back and forth upon these shafts. This frame 48 carries a depending-yoke 54 which embraces the clutch sleeve 44, and co-operates with the collars or projections 55 and 5G upon the sleeve in reciprocating it. he frame 48 is provided with an upper toothed rack 57 and a lower toothed rack 58. These racks co-operate with a gear segment 59 in bringing about reciprocations of the frame. The gear segment 59 is mounted upon a shaft 60 which is provided at its forward endwith a bearing 6l mounted upon a transverse channel iron 62 which extends between the frames l0. The rear bearing 63 for the shaft GO is provided with a transverse frame made up of the inclined members 64 and 65, which connect at their lower ends with the two frames l0 and are brought together at their upper ends to form a support .for the bearing` G3. The forward end of the shaft 6l is provided with a worm gear wheel GG which meshes with a worm 67 mounted upon the worm shaft 53. The latter is driven through a pinion 68 secured to the driving shaft 3G and a. gear wheel 69 secured to the worm shaft 53. By this construction the shaft G0 is driven contemporancously with the driving shaft 36. Consequently, the gear segment 59 is constantly rotating while the hoist is operating. This results in repeated reciprocations of the frame 48. lf'ilhen the parts are in the position illustrated in Figure 4, as previously noted, the pinion is clutched to the driving shaft 8G and the drum is being rotated in the hoisting direction. As there illustrated. the frame 48 is at the beginning of its leftward n'ioveinent. The first tooth in the segmentary 59 is just engaging the abutment 79 and. by so doing.y starts the frame leftward. The subsequent engagement of the teeth of the segment with the teeth of the rack` 57 continues this leftward movement. When the teeth of the segment have passed out of engagement with the teeth of the rack. the frame will have reached its extreme left hand position. Continued rotation of the segmental gear 59 will, by engaging the abutment 71 and the teeth of the lower rack 58, cause the frame to move back to the right hand position illustrated. As the frame moves from the position of Fig. 4 the yoke 54 will move out of engagement with projection 56, and after traversing the space between the projections 55 and 56 will engage projection 55 and move the sleeve 44to the left. In doing so it will'iirst disengage clutch teeth 41 and 43 and thereby disconneet pinion 35 and discontinuethe hoisting movement of the drum. As the yoke 54 moves still'further to the left, it will carry the sleeve 44 with it and finally bring the clutch teeth 42 and 46 into engagement,

thereby clutching the pinion 40 to the driving shaft 36 and causingthe drum to rotate in the reverse direction. Again, as the frame' 48 starts in its movement to the. right, its

"'volre 54 will disengage projection 55 and linallyengage Vprojection 56 and begin to lmove the sleeve 44'to the right. InA doing so,

it will first unclutch pinion 4G-and stop the "reverse rotation of the drum,'andthen it' lwillclutch pinion to the driving shaft and beg-in the hoisting rotation of the drum.

It will ybe noted that before and after each 'hoisting rotation of the drum there is a short interval when the drum is not moving. There the hoist is used for handling coal in a system such as disclosed by me in my ap' plication Serial No. 483,201.t filed July 8th, 1921,.'these intervals allow for the loading and dumping of the receptacle to which the `hoisting cable is attached.

Referring now to the mechanism for pre` venting the drum from reversing its direction of rotation when set to operate in the hoisting direction, it will be noted that I provide upon the intermediate shaft 29 just outward of one of the frames 10. a ratchet wheel 72 which is secured to the shaft. As illustrated more particularly in Figure 2, this wheel 72 cti-operates with a lever 73 1 upon which is a pawl or tooth 74. As there illustrated, the teeth of the wheel 72 are provided with radial faces or shoulders, andV the tooth 74 is also provided with a like facev or shoulder. The other faces of both the teeth of the wheel 72 and the tooth 74 are inclined. By reason of this construction the tooth 74 will slip over` the teeth of the wheel whenever the drum isbeing operated in the hoisting direction, lbut in case anything should occur which would cause the drum to begin to reverse its direction of rotation.7 the square face of the tooth 74 would abut `frame l0. In lorder to move the` lever 73 out of tooth engaging position, when it becomes necessaryv to rotate the drum in its reverse direction, I

Y headed pins 82 and 83, respectively, pass into the web ofthe channel arm 62. The construction is such that the member 78 may be moved to and fro and Will be heldin any position by the friction of the parts unless pressure is applied to it through the arm 77 of the reciprocating gear. purpose the member78 is provided with two projections 84 and 85. It will be seen that, viewing the parts as shown -in Figure 5, when the member 77 presses against the projection 84, the bell crank lever will `occupy the full line position andthe ratchet lever 73 will be in tooth engaging position. The parts will remain in this position until the member 77 has passed out of engagement with projection 84 and come into engage-- ment with projection 85 and applied pressure enough to force the member 78 towardV the right to the dotted line position. 1When this point is reached the bell Vcrank lever 7 9 willhave its own arm raised and the ratchet Alever 73 will occu v the dotted line aosition.

This is the position in which the tooth., 74-is held free of'the ratchet Wheel 72. Thus a lost motion connection'is'provided between the reciprocating frame 48 and the reciprocatinnf member 78 bv which `the latter is actuated only when the former is at ornear the extremities of its to fandjfro movements.

In the operation of' this ratchet mechanisin, it will vbeclear that the arm `77 and projections 84 and 85 should be so positioned that the lever 73 will `be 'held in tooth engaging position so long as the drum is being rotated in the'hoistinn` direction.` Referring to Fig. 4, this should'continue so lone` as pinion 35 is in clutch with the driving shaft 36.v 4Any time after the frame 48 has moved far enough to unclutch teeth 4l and 43, the arm 77 may engage the projection 85 to raise the ratchet lever 73. This condition ofthe ratchetv lever should remain until upon the return movement of the frame 48 the yoke has nearly reached the point of throwing the clutch teeth 41 and 43 into engagement. Before this latter takes place. the arm 77 should engage the projection 84 to allow the ratchet lever 73 to drop into tooth engaging 1 position.

.Referring now to another emergency feature, it will be clear that it is `desirable fto provide som-e means for bialri'ngthe drum, in case itI overruns the prescribed distance For the latter for which the reverse gear and other parts have been set or designed. To take care of this condition I provide a brake, in association with thedrum, in which the brake parts are fed toward and from each other upon a screw thread. Ordinarily, these brake members do not come into braking engagement. In the prescribed to and fro rotations of the drum the screw feed is insufficient to bring the members into contact. However, in case the drum should overrun, then the screw feed would bring the members into engagement. One of these brake members is the conical member 26, previously referred to as forming part of the end 22 of the drum structure. The other co-operating brake member 86 is mounted concentrically with the shaft 17 and comprises an inner ring 87 and an outer ring S8. The former is provided with a thread 89 which co-operates with a thread 90 upon the shaft 17. The ring 87 carries the conical flange which co-operates with the conical face of the brake member 26. It also has a plurality of semi-circular openings or notches 91. InV the present instance, four such are shown. These co-operate with a number of similar notches or openings 92 formed on the interior of the outer ring 88. In the present arrangement, there are several notches 92 for each of the notches 91. These are provided for adjustment purposes. Bolts 93, provided with suitable nuts, are used to fasten the inner and outer rings together to make the complete brake member 86. The notches 91 may be set opposite any desired set of notches 92, and the bolts 93 then pass through the resulting openings. Then the nuts are applied to the bolts, the parts are firmly secured together. 1When thus secured, it is necessary to keep the complete structure from rotating.' In the present instance, this is accomplished by giving the outer ring 88 a number of flat faces 94, and these co-operate with a horizontal `stool which has a vertical portion 96 which is secured to one of the vertical flanges 13 by a plurality of bolts 97, provided with suitable nuts. The flat face 94 lies in close'proximity to the face of the stool 95 according to the particular adjustment, and the brake member 86 is prevented from rotation although it is free to move longitudinally of the shaft along the upper face of the stool. It will be seen that with a given adjustment the rotation of the drum in the hoisting direction will cause the brake member 86 to move toward the brake member 26, but, as previously noted, the desired adjustment is such that the two will not come into braking engagement during the normal hoisting movement of the drum. In case, however, some abnormal condition should arise which would cause the drum to rotate further than it should in the hoisting direction, then the brake members 26 and 86 will come into ein gagement and prevent further rotation of the drum in that direction.

It should` be noted that with the specific construction illustrated more particularly in Figs. 5 and 6, I am able to obtain a very nice adjustment of the brake member 86 upon the shaft 17. Thus, with the outer ring 88 alone, I am able to set the brake member 86 at any one of six positions per revolution; that is to say, at any one of six positions measured in siXths of the pitch of the screw 90.' rEhen, by means of the adjustment provided between the inner ring S7 and the outer ring S8, I am able to still further divide one of these siXths into smaller divisions. The number of such divisions will depend upon the number of openings 92. Thus, it will be seen that I am able to obtain a very [ine adjustment of the brake member 86 upon the shaft 17.

It will be apparent that the driving shaft 36 may be driven from any suitable source of power, and I have indicated the shaft as having a square end 98 for the purpose of coupling it to such a source.

It may also be noted that the end of the drum shaft 17 adjacent to the thread 90 is considerably reduced in diameter in order to allow the thread to be cut and the brake member to be assembled upon the shaft. Consequently, I provide upon this reduced portion of the shaft a sleeve or bearing 99 and retain the same in position by a collar100 which is secured to the shaft by any suitable means, as by a transverse pin 101. By this construction the bearings 16 may be made of the same size and the shaft will accurately fit the same.

Furtheri'nore, I may also call attention to the provision of two stop pins 102 for limiting the movement of the brake member 86 outward from the member 26. These pins are in the form of bolts which extend respectively through the webs 14 and 15 of the adjacent frame 10. Each bolt 102 is provided with nuts 10? and 104 which are threaded upon it and adapted to press against the opposite sides of thepenetrated 'flange to hold the bolt firmly in place. The free ends or heads of the bolts 102 extend beyond the inner edge of the adjacent frame 10 and are in position to abut against the brake membef 86 to limit its outward movement. By the nuts 103 and 104, the bolts may be adjusted with reference to the frame 10 to vary the outer limiting position of the member S6. By this means the return movement of the drum is limited in case it should unexpectedly overrun in the return direction, due to some failure of the apparatus to otherwise properly function.

In carrying out my invention, it will be apparent that manv changes may be made in the details herein disclosed without departing from the spirit and scope of the i ii CII

invention. I, therefore, aim to cover all such changes by the termsof the appendedV claims.

What I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent of the United States is:

l. In mechanism of the class described, the combination of a driven member, a horizontal driving shaft, other shafts parallel to said driving shaft, intermeshing gear wheels on said shafts arranged to drive said member forward for one connection and backward for another connection, shiftable clutches on one of said shafts for establishing said connections individually, an auxiliary shaft parallel to and driven by said driving shaft, a clutch-shifting frame having a depending yoke and lateral supporting arms, said yoke operating upon said clutches to establish said connections and said arms bearing upon said auxiliary shaft and one of said other shafts to support and guide said frame as it is reciprocated, and means for reciprocating said frame in response to the revolutions of said auxiliary shaft.

2.111 mechanism of the character described, the combination of a driven member rotatable about a horizontal axis, a driving shaft,'other shafts, all of said shafts being parallel to said axis, inter-meshing gear wheels on said shafts arranged to drive said member forward for one connection and backward for another connection, shiftable clutches on one of said shafts for establishing said connections individually, an auxiliary shaft geared to said driving shaft independently of said interineshing gear wheels, a reciprocating frame having lateral arms bearing upon certain of said shafts and slidable lengthwise thereof, a yoke depending from said frame and operative to actuate said clutches to alternately provide said connections in response to the reciprocations of said frame, an additional shaft driven from said auxiliary shaft and extending through an opening in said frame, and cooperating means upon said additional shaft and said frame at the point where the former passes through the opening in the latter for causing reciprocations of the frame in response to rotations of the shaft.

3. In mechanism of the character described, the combination of a driven member, a driving shaft, other shafts parallel to said driving shaft, intermeshing gear wheels on said shafts arranged to drive said member forward for one connection and backward for another connection, shiftable clutches on one of said shafts for establishing said connections individually, a worin shaft parallel to said driving shaft, intermeshing gear wheels for driving said worm shaft from said driving shaft, a worm gear wheel meshing with the worm on said worm shaft, an

additional shaft supporting said worin wheel Y and extending in a plane at ,right angles to 4. In mechanism of the class described,

the combination of spaced supporting frames, a driven member having a shaft journaled in said frames, a driving shaft and other shafts parallel thereto journaled in said frames, intermeshing gear wheels on said shafts arranged to drive said driven member forward for one connection and backward for another connection, shiftable clutches on said driving shaft for establishing said connections individually, an auxil-l iary shaft journaled in said frames above and said clutch shifting member for and driven by said driving shaft, a clutchshifting frame having a depending yoke for engaging said clutches to establish said connections, said clutch-shifting frame being movable lengthwise of said shafts, means for reciprocating said clutch-shifting frame directly from said auxiliary shaft, a ratchet wheel -on one of said other shafts outward of'one of said supporting frames, a cooperating pawl pivoted to the adjacent supporting frame, and means including a member movable in the plane of movement of said clutch-shifting frame and having a lost motion connection with the same for causing the up and down movements of said pawl at the ends respectively of the reciprocations of said clutch-shifting frame.

5. In mechanism of the class described, the combination of spaced supporting frames, a driven member having a shaft jouriialed in said frames, a driving shaft and other shafts parallel thereto journaled in said frames, intermeshing gear wheels on said shafts arranged to drive said driven member forward for one connection and backward for another connection, shiftable clutches on said driving shaft for establishing said connections individually, an auxiliary shaft journaled in said frames 'above and driven by said driving shaft, a clutchshifting frame having a depending yoke for engaging said clutches to establish said connections, said clutch-shifting frame being movable lengthwise of said shafts, means for reciprocating said clutch-shifting frame directly from said auxiliary shaft, a ratchet wheel on one of said other shafts outward of one of said supporting frames, a cooperating pawl pivoted to the adjacent supporting frame, a transverse member extending between said supporting frames adjacent to said auxiliary shaft, a reciprocating member supported by said transverse member and adapted to be actuated by said clutchshifting frame, and a lever for actuating said pavvl in response to the movements of said reciprocating member, .said paWl actuations occurring at the ends of the reciprocations of said clutch-shifting frame.

6. In mechanism of the class described, the combination of spaced supporting frames, a driven member having a shaft journaled in said frames, a driving shaft and other shafts parallel thereto journaled in said frames, intermeshing gear Wheels on said shafts arranged to drive said driven member forward for one connection and backward for another connection, shiftable clutches on said driving shaft for establishing said connections individually, an auxiliary shaft journaled in said frames above and driven by said driving shaft, a clutch-shifting frame having a depending yoke for engaging 20 said clutches to establish said connections,

said clutch-shifting frame being movable lengthwise of said shafts, means for reciprocating said clutch-shifting frame directly from said auxiliary shaft, a ratchet Wheel on one of said other shafts outward of one of said supporting frames, cooperating pawl pivoted to the adjacent .supporting frame, a transverse member extending between said supporting frames adjacent to said auxiliary shaft, a reciprocatory member mounted for operation on said transverse member and adapted to be actuated by said clutch-shifting frame, and means responsive to the movements of said reciprocatory member to actuate said paivl.

In testimony whereof, I hereunto subscribe my name this 12th day of July, A. D. 1921.

HENRY lV. NAGEL. 

